Gordon Brown has resigned as British prime minister, making way for a coalition government led by Britain’s new prime minister, David Cameron, to take the reigns of British parliament.
After announcing his resignation outside 10 Downing Street today, Brown and his wife spent about 15 minutes at Buckingham Palace, after which a statement was released citing the queen’s acceptance of Brown’s decision.
Earlier today, talks on forming a new government between Brown’s Labour party and Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrats broke down. After narrowly winning the May 6 election, Cameron’s Conservatives reached out to Clegg’s party in hopes of forming a coaltion and avoiding a hung parliament, the first since 1974 and the second since World War II.
In order to take full control of parliament in the UK, the winning party must garner 326 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons. A coalition between the Conservatives (who won 306 seats) and the Liberal Democrats (who won 57 seats) would help the country avoid a hung parliament.
Oddly enough, just months ago, no one in the UK could have predicted the fate of the British government would lay in the hands of the 43-year-old Clegg and the Liberal Democrats.
Cameron, speaking outside 10 Downing Street, said he aims to create a “full and proper” coalition with Clegg’s Liberal Democrats.
“I believe that is the best way to get the strong government that we need, decisive government that we need today,” said Cameron in his first speech as leader. “I love this country and think it’s best days lie ahead. Now we need to confront our problems and take difficult decisions.”
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